


Show me an open door

by NightsMeridian



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: All aboard the Angst Express, F/F, I'm putting Maggie through a serious emotional wringer, Maggie doing actual police work -gasp-, Sorry Not Sorry, and being a bamf, angst with payoff, brotp Kara/Maggie, future fic so not very canon compliant after 2x08
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-19 02:51:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9414722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightsMeridian/pseuds/NightsMeridian
Summary: She remembered what she'd said months ago. "I don't want to imagine my life without you in it." But it wasn't something she had given much thought afterwards.Until the day Alex breaks her heart and leaves her to pick up the pieces.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally I was going to post this story in one go, but it kept growing and I had to cover a lot of ground. I feel it will be better served by being posted in parts. It'll be either 4 or 5 parts (at most) depends on how the last part will turn out, since I'm still writing that one.
> 
> This story would take place around 8/9 months into the future and assumes Cadmus is still a threat.
> 
> It's somewhat new territory for me writing-wise for this show, so I'd appreciate some comments, thank you :)

 

* * *

 

Maggie groaned as her phone started ringing on the edge of the table and she set down the bottle of beer with a loud thump. She had been home for barely an hour after an already long and grueling workday. And despite knowing one of the cases she was working on might have a break when some of the lab results came back, she wasn’t really looking forward to spending the rest of her evening over at the precinct.

Cursing, she yanked the phone towards her and was about to answer it when she noticed the caller id. Her heart stopped for a split second and then it started beating faster.

“Kara?” She questioned as soon as she hit the answer button. Because it had been weeks and she knew with a sense of dread stirring in the pit of her stomach, that Kara wouldn’t be calling at this time of the night if it wasn’t something urgent.

“Maggie? I’m sorry for calling you, but I don’t know who else to turn to.”

“Are you okay? Is…” Maggie hesitated, wanting to fire off more questions but at the same time afraid of what the answers would be. And Kara sounded weary, the hints of exhaustion seeping through in her voice. Nothing like the perky overexcited girl Maggie had come to know her as.

“I am, yeah.”

But it wasn’t the answer that made her dig her nails in the wooden coffee table. It was what Kara wasn’t saying.

“Alex?” She queried finally, her voice small, choked.

“She’s...she’s not, and I need to go..somewhere and I can’t..”

Her mind got stuck on what Kara had told her for a moment before she caught up with her still rambling on the phone.

“Kara it’s okay...stop,” she muttered, while already rushing to grab her keys and leather jacket. “Where are you?”

“My place.”

“I’ll be there in 15 minutes.”

 

* * *

 

 

It took her closer to 10 minutes and when she rounded the corner, Maggie was surprised to see Kara already waiting for her outside the apartment.

“Maggie, hey, thank you for coming,” Kara said in a soft tone.

“Of course,” Maggie replied while casting a quick glance past Kara, into the dimly lit living room behind her.

“She’s sleeping,” Kara explained and some of the tension left Maggie’s body at those words.

She followed after Kara into the apartment and noticed the room dividers set up to completely block out the area where the bed was situated. A wide assortment of empty take-out boxes covered most of the surface of the coffee table and while the tv was showing an old black and white movie it was muted to the lowest possible sound level. Low enough for Kara to still be able to follow what was happening in the movie, though Maggie figured Kara’s entire attention was likely focused on Alex sleeping across the apartment.

“What happened?” She finally asked after Kara softly closed the door behind them.

“Cadmus,” Kara explained as she used superspeed to change into her Supergirl costume.

Kara walked over the window and opened it, before turning to face her again. Her lips were drawn into a tight line and when Maggie took a few steps closer she noticed the shimmering of tears in her eyes. It was rapidly becoming clear to her that whatever happened was weighing down heavily on Kara, even though she was trying her hardest to hide it.

“We got captured and they…” Maggie could see Kara’s fists clenching to tight balls at her sides, the expression on her face one of dejection and helplessness. “It’s almost over though. We have one more proper raid tonight on one of their locations and I can’t let the DEO's teams go in there alone, not when we’re not a hundred percent sure what we’re up against. And they’re likely to be desperate, considering how we’ve put the pressure on them these past few days.”

Maggie nodded, trying to process the information Kara had just given her. “Are you sure you’re okay?” She finally asked after a few seconds had passed in silence. “You look..exhausted, no offense.”

“I am,” Kara admitted, her chin dipping to her chest with a soft, “you know I heal fast.”

Swallowing, Maggie flicked her eyes to the room dividers, unsure of what she would find if she went to that corner of the apartment. Deep down she knew Alex was fine, most likely drugged out of her mind to get some rest, because she remembered all too well how difficult of a patient Alex had been in the past. But she couldn’t help worry, couldn’t ignore the dull ache settling in her chest at the thought of Alex being injured again. And injured pretty badly from the sounds of it.

She also knew Kara was blaming herself. Her eyes basically radiated guilt. Guilt and an old kind of pain that Maggie had noticed surfacing every now and then. As if something bad had happened many years ago that Kara had never been able to let go of. But it was easy to recognise the signs of someone blaming themselves for what happened to another person, she had seen it too many times when she had gone and visit a victim’s loved ones and break the bad news to them.

“I’m sure you have questions,” Kara spoke up as she stole a glance at her phone before pocketing it. “But I really need to go.” Then she quirked her lips into a tired half smile that barely reached her eyes. “I do appreciate you coming here though I know it must be difficult for you…”

Maggie averted her gaze and closed her eyes briefly. “Yeah, it’s okay. I’m always here to help, no matter what Kara, you know that.”

“I know. But still..” Kara sighed and tucked some strands of hair behind her ears. “There wasn’t anyone else I could call and Eliza won’t be back for another couple of days. I just...I really didn’t want to leave her alone and risk she woke up with nobody being there for her.”

“It’s okay,” Maggie repeated with a soft smile.

She noticed Kara staring at the direction where Alex was sleeping, clearly struggling with having to leave her sister alone, even if it was only for a little while. At the start of her relationship with Alex it had sometimes made her feel a little left out and even jealous, but eventually she had come to admire their closeness. Their willingness to do everything in their power to protect the other. It had gotten Alex hurt a few times and while both her and Kara had lectured Alex on her penchant for putting her life at risk to save others, Maggie had found she could never stay mad for long. And while Alex had promised to at least become a little bit more careful, Maggie knew she would still stop at nothing to protect Kara. And the other way around was true as well.

It made her wonder what had hurt Alex this badly. What had happened to put this dull look in Kara’s eyes that she had never seen before. The thought that she was no longer kept in the loop for these sort of things was a bitter pill to swallow and Maggie sighed before stepping forward and placing a hand on Kara’s arm.

“I’ll keep a close eye on her okay? The moment I think something’s wrong I’ll call you, promise.”

Kara released a long breath and nodded, straightening as she stood in front of the open window. “It should only be a few hours at most, I’m not gonna stick around for the aftermath or the paperwork.”

She made a face at the last word and Maggie couldn’t help a soft chuckle. Debriefing and paperwork never had made Kara’s favorite list and she found it slightly adorable how Kara always latched onto the flimsiest of excuses to get out of the DEO again after a completed mission.

“Be safe, alright?”

The smile Kara gave her lighted up her eyes and when she stepped forward to envelop her into a tight hug, Maggie closed her eyes and cherished the moment. She had never been a overly tactile person before meeting the Danvers sisters, but she had gotten used to being hugged and Alex’s affectionate touches. It was something she hadn’t realized she would miss until that day Alex had stormed out of her apartment.

“I will, and thank you again.”

Maggie smiled again and then shook her head when Kara lifted off slightly from the ground and flew away with a burst of speed. Even after having seen Kara fly away dozens of times by now it still never ceased to amaze her.

She closed the window and turned towards the living room, eyes lingering on the empty boxes and paper plates littering the surface of the coffee table. It would give her something to do at least and she checked a few of the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen, eventually finding some trash bags. Even while cleaning up the coffee table and the kitchen counters, she found her gaze wandering continuously towards the room dividers.

She knew she was just postponing the inevitable. Despite knowing that Alex must have been still asleep, she still had a hard time gathering enough courage to walk over and check up on her. The last time she had seen her had been close to two weeks ago and they had barely spoken two words. It was a case that had been better off in Deo hands and other than acknowledging her presence and asking for some notes, Alex had scarcely given her the time of the day.

The memory caused a invisible band to tighten itself around her chest and Maggie sighed as she put a few dirty dishes and cups in the dishwasher. She had thought after their breakup that she would be able to move past it eventually. Like she had so often in the past. But there was something about Alex that had gotten under her skin, much more so than most of the other women she had been in a relationship with. And every time she saw her it just reminded her of the happier times they had shared. Even now, when she looked around Kara’s apartment and remembered movie nights with the three of them, or just having dinner here after Kara had invited them both over. Everything always reminded her of Alex and she had come to terms with the fact that she was still hopelessly in love with her.

Even if Alex no longer loved her back.

Grabbing a beer from the fridge, she wandered over the couch and sat down. She figured Kara wouldn’t mind if she stole one beer at least and she really needed something to take the edge off.

Rolling the muscles in her shoulders, she tried to get more comfortable on the couch. A glance at her watch told her it had been well over an hour since Kara left and she pursed her lips, hoping that no news would be good news in this case.

Idly she zapped past various channels, never settling on any of them for too long. It wasn’t as if anything would hold her attention at this point. She was over halfway through her beer when she heard some faint noises. As if someone was mumbling and Maggie froze, her heart shooting up into her throat.

Holding her breath she listened closely for a moment, though it remained quiet, the only sounds coming from the tv in front of her. She knew it had been Alex though and Maggie rubbed at her forehead, before standing up from the couch and walking towards the back of the apartment.

When she rounded the corner she noticed the wastebin first. It stood out from the rest of the dimly lit room, a blood soaked bandage slightly hanging across the edge of it. The nightstand next to it was dominated by a variety of pill bottles, medicine boxes and bandages and Maggie swallowed, walking closer to the bed. A sliver of light from the living room illuminated parts of Alex body as she laid on her side, legs slightly curled up to her chest and the blanket only covering her lower body.

An audible gasp escaped her when she first saw Alex’s face and she quickly slipped a hand across her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes as she took in the damage done to Alex’s body. Her face was swollen at one side and there was a large cut across her forehead, disappearing into her hairline. Various lacerations covered the visible parts of Alex’s back, most of them having been stitched or scabbed over. A large bandage covered one of her shoulders and Maggie felt nauseous when she noticed the sheer amount of bruising that covered her arms and chest area.

Tears spilled across her cheeks as she leaned against the wall and observed Alex. She so desperately wanted to reach out, even lie down next to Alex and whisper soothing words to her while trying to provide a measure of comfort. But she knew she couldn’t and it was killing her, the sharp pain centered around her heart reminding her of the words Alex had yelled at her during their breakup. She couldn’t be that kind of person anymore, Alex had made that abundantly clear.

She muffled a choked off sob and slowly made her way back towards the living room. There was nothing she could do and she raised her legs to her chest as she sat back down on the couch. Silent tears slowly ran down her cheeks but she made no move to swipe them away as she stared unseeing at the tv in front of her.

Eventually she turned around slightly on the couch, enough so she would be able to keep an eye on the area where Alex was sleeping. Her heart was heavy in her chest as she finally used her sleeves to dry the tear tracks burning across her cheeks. She’d seen Alex get hurt before, saw her get shot once while standing just a few feet away. But the kevlar vest she wore had absorbed the brunt of the impact and other than some bruises and cuts, she usually hadn’t been any worse for the wear. Nothing had come close to the bruised and battered form lying on the bed across the apartment and a sharp spike of anger welled up at the thought of people hurting Alex like that. At the thought of Cadmus being responsible for this as well.

She played with the empty beer bottle and debated on getting a new one when she heard the unmistakable sound of a window being opened. Glancing across her shoulder Maggie huffed out a laugh upon finding Kara floating in through the window, still in her supergirl suit and balancing a stack of pizza boxes in her arms.

“Sometimes I wonder if you even have a stomach,” she spoke up softly, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.

“I had a decent exercise,” Kara said while placing the boxes on the table closest to the kitchen. “It works up an appetite.”   
  
“So everything went okay?”

“Yeah.” Though she noticed Kara seemingly absorbed in her own thoughts for a moment and wondered what she wasn’t telling. “Operation went off without a hitch really. We captured a lot of Cadmus personnel, I’m not sure what’s going to happen to them. But most of them at least surrendered fairly quickly when they realized there was nowhere to go.”

“Sounds like I might have some extra paperwork tomorrow,” Maggie mused with a shake of her head. They processed a lot of Cadmus goons over the last two months and she knew without a doubt the whole circus around charging and prosecuting them all was going to take years.

Kara scrunched up her nose, “sorry,” she muttered, though it didn’t really sound like she was sorry at all and Maggie lightly bumped her arm.

Opening up one of the pizza boxes, Kara handed her a slice, though her gaze was stuck on the far side of the room and Maggie understood she was trying to listen in on Alex.

“She was still sleeping when I checked earlier.”

“Yeah, I figured. I’m glad really, she kept waking up the other night.” Kara’s voice wavered and she played with the slice of pizza in her hand. “She’s been having nightmares and she won’t really talk to me about them.”

“She will,” Maggie said softly, while trying not to think of Alex waking up screaming in the middle of the night.

“I know. I just hate that she does that though,” Kara said while turning to her, blue eyes gone bright with emotion. “Keeping all of that inside, trying to be strong even when she’s hurt like this. She won’t let me do much, other than redress her wounds and hold her at night. I think she…” Her throat bobbed as she swallowed repeatedly and Maggie reached out and placed her hand on top of Kara’s own as it dug into the wooden tabletop. “I think she blames herself for what happened. For not being able to protect me. Even though she suffered just as badly herself. I couldn’t protect her either Maggie, I have all these powers, I’m practically invincible and couldn’t do anything but watch as they beat her nearly to death in front of me.”

“I’m...sorry Kara,” Maggie whispered. Her throat constricted almost painfully as her mind got stuck on what Kara had just told her. She desperately tried not to visualize what had happened to Alex, but she’d seen the bruises and lacerations and it caused fresh tears to well up in her eyes. “I wish I...I-I saw her earlier and I just…”

“Yeah,” Kara said softly, thickly, and before she had a chance to do anything she found herself pulled into a tight hug again. “I know. She’ll be...okay, it’s just going to take time.”

Maggie nodded and withdrew from the hug while wiping some wetness away from her eyes with the back of her hands.

“I’m sorry,” Kara said after a few seconds had passed and Maggie glanced up from the slice of pizza she’d taken a small bite from. She wasn’t really that hungry considering her stomach was all knotted up but she figured she could at least finish a slice or two before excusing herself and going back to her own apartment.

“About not telling you what happened right away,” Kara continued while fidgeting with the edge of the pizza box. “I just...didn’t really know what to do.”

“It’s alright, I get it.” But it still made her heart clench. It wasn’t really something she wanted to think about, even though the cold stark reality of the situation had hit her in the face earlier when she saw Alex lying in that bed, a ghost of her normal self. At any one time Alex could get seriously injured, or even die, and she wouldn’t know about it until it was too late.

“Maggie?”

She refocused her attention on Kara, noting the nervousness flitting across her features as she held her gaze. “Yeah?”

“Can I ask what happened at least? I mean..I don’t meant to pry but…” Kara hesitated and Maggie stared past her, unsure of how she would even answer Kara’s questions. “Alex wouldn’t really tell me much and I just… She was so...so  _ happy _ , so much lighter and she was smiling all the time, and then all of a sudden she wasn’t and I’m just..I’m wondering what happened.”

“I don’t really know either, Kara,” Maggie said after mulling it over for a moment. There wasn’t really any other answer she could give other than the truth and her entire being ached as she thought of the days spend analyzing every little thing, wondering what the hell she had done wrong. “I really don’t know but...she said that her feelings..changed. That she no longer felt the same way I did, that I was too self-absorbed and wrapped up in my own feelings to realize that we weren’t on the same page.”

Saying the words out loud like that hurt and Maggie turned away from Kara and closed her eyes. Everything was still too raw, too close to the surface and this,  _ this  _ situation where she was forced to explain how she had fucked something great up  _ yet _ again, it was exactly the kind of thing she had been hoping to avoid.

“I only have myself to blame for this though,” she forced out past the lump in her throat.

“Maggie…”

“I said right from the start that these kind of things, these sort of relationships almost never work out. And I...I should’ve known really. The shininess wore off and what we had...it apparently wasn’t e-enough for Alex.”

She took deep steadying breaths, willing back the tears that were welling up in her eyes anew.

“I’m sorry..” Kara whispered, “maybe I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s fine. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

She turned around to face Kara and flashed her a watery smile. Though she noticed Kara’s eyes suddenly flicking towards the direction of her bed and Maggie’s stomach lurched at the implication.

“I think she might be waking up,” Kara confirmed her suspicions.

“That’s my cue to go then.” She’d already stayed far longer than planned and considering how close to the surface her emotions were she wasn’t looking forward to adding a confrontation with Alex to her inner turmoil. “Just...keep me appraised at least okay?”

“I will,” Kara said. Her eyes were filled with a warm kind of sympathy and Maggie averted her gaze, she would never get used to the amount of affection and kindness Kara showed for people she cared about.

“And you know you can always call me if you need my help with anything,” Maggie added as pulled on her leather jacket and walked to the door.

“Yeah,” Kara said as she walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder for a moment, “same goes to you as well, okay? Thank you again and I’ll keep you updated on Alex’s adventures as the worst patient in the universe.”

Chuckling, Maggie opened the door and glanced back with a softly uttered, “bye,” before closing it behind her.

Her expression fell as she leaned against the wall next to the door, trying to get her bearings. She couldn’t stop her mind from replaying the memories of Alex lying there, deadly pale, covered in bruises and cuts. Swallowing thickly she walked out of the apartment building, making a mental note to toss the opened beer still sitting in the fridge at her own place. She’d need something a lot stronger to get any sleep that night.  
  


* * *

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

 

Maggie stared at the kryptonian whirlwind moving about the apartment and hardly making a sound, both awed and amused at her antics.

“Uhm Kara, maybe you should slow down a little?” she suggested on a soft tone. Her eyes wandered over to the room dividers almost automatically, afraid that at any moment Kara might lodge some furniture into the walls or otherwise and wake Alex up.

“Can’t,” Kara muttered as she flipped through a stack of papers on the coffee table in record speed, “Oh Rao, I can’t believe I forget this deadline, I need to…”

“It’s going to be fine,” Maggie tried to assure her though Kara continued to zoom through the apartment, finally stopping at a heap of magazines on a counter and sorting through them. “I’m sure your boss..”

“Is going to roast me for messing up this article?” Kara filled in absentmindedly, before finally letting out a slightly too loud whoop of joy and waving around a small scrap of paper. “Found it, yes!”

“I was going to say he’ll be fine with you being a little past your deadline?” Maggie supplied, chuckling at the sudden radiant smile that was plastered on Kara’s face.

“You do remember me telling you about Snapper Carr? At times I’d rather fill out DEO tax forms than having to listen to him once again chewing my head off. He’s obnoxious, he’s mean and he’s...he’s..”

Maggie moved a hand in front of her mouth to try and stifle her laughter. Kara was an actual ray of sunshine and to see her scrunch up her face like this, seemingly only seconds away from stomping on the ground like a 5 yr old, she just couldn’t help it.

Kara narrowed her eyes at her and Maggie tried her best to school her features into an impassive mask. The glare send her way only lasted for a second or so though before a surge of panic once again spread across Kara’s face and she quickly switched to her Supergirl suit.

“Crap, I really need to go. I should be back once I finish this up, so few hours again at most, okay?” Before she was able to reply Kara placed a hand on her arm and squeezed softly and Maggie marvelled at how much Kara likely had to reign in her powers to make it so she barely felt the pressure at all. “And uhm, thank you, again. I know this was all very last minute and I..”

“It’s alright, just go, finish up that article of yours.”

Kara hesitated for a second more, before finally nodding and flying away.

As soon as she had left Maggie sighed and closed her eyes. It was way too early in the morning on her day off and after the few long and rough days she had, all she really wanted to do was drop face-down onto her bed and sleep for the next 12 hours. What little adrenaline had rushed through her body after Kara had called her, had finally ran out and all that was left was a bone-deep tiredness.

She had foregone breakfast and her early morning dose of coffee and her stomach was making small protesting noises alerting her to the fact she hadn’t eaten anything since the burger she had scarfed down during the late night stakeout. The lack of coffee at least was easy to fix since she knew Kara always had some on supply, even if it didn’t do much for her. But breakfast was an entirely different matter. She settled for toasting some bread and scrambling a few eggs, since half of Kara’s breakfast foods consisted out of some form of sugar.

She ate her breakfast in silence, all the while stealing glances at the room dividers. It had crossed her mind a few times to wake up Alex, but she really didn’t want to disturb her sleep, since she knew from Kara’s messages that Alex still had nightmares and bouts of sleeplessness. There were other reasons for her to let Alex sleep as well, but she kept pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind.

After putting away the dishes and cleaning up the kitchen she sat down on the couch, curled into a corner and flipped the channel to some cartoons. Her tiredness was catching up to her and she soon found herself dozing off, barely able to keep her eyes open.

“Kara?”

“Hm?” she mumbled, blinking owlishly for a moment as she perked up from her position on the couch. She thought she imagined the sound at first but then she heard the voice call out from across the apartment again.

“Can you help me with…”

Maggie met Alex’s eyes across the room and was rendered speechless. They both froze for a moment and she swallowed as she took in Alex’s disheveled appearance. She was dressed in a light red tank top and grey pyjama bottoms, hands clutching onto one of the room dividers, clearly using it to support herself while regarding her with a mixture of confusion and wariness.

“Maggie? What are you...how did you?”

The look in Alex's eyes grew harder and Maggie took a deep breath, trying to steel herself against the possible arguments that might follow.

“Kara had to leave, something to do with an article she had to finish,” she explained while fidgeting with the throw blanket she had draped across her lap. “Did you need something?”

“I..” Alex was still looking at her as if she couldn’t quite believe she was really in the apartment, a frown creasing her brows. “No, not really. I’ll wait for Kara to come back.”

“Alex..” Maggie tried to call out after her but Alex just ignored her and shuffled back towards the direction of the bed.

Sighing, she rubbed at her temples and glanced at the room dividers blocking her from seeing what Alex was doing. Likely staring a hole into the wall if she had to go by past experiences. Alex was an extremely difficult and frustrating patient and Maggie felt a twinge of sympathy of what hell she had likely put Kara through the past week or so. But at least Kara was one of the few people she did trust enough to let the more vulnerable side of her be seen while she was injured. She had no idea where she stood herself, considering what had happened between them.

“You know it might take a few hours for Kara to return,” she spoke up with a raised voice.

“And I can _wait_ those few extra hours.”

“Sure you do,” Maggie growled out as she finally launched herself away from the couch, “could you for once in your life stop being so stubborn and just let people help you.”

“I don’t need your..”

Alex halted mid sentence the moment she rounded the corner, though instead of glaring at her, Maggie was surprised when Alex merely sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. “And you call me stubborn,” she muttered while scooting backwards on the bed and propping herself up against a stack of pillows and the headboard.

“Pretty sure I don’t hold a candle to your stubbornness,” Maggie shot back while crossing her arms.

Alex was studiously avoiding looking in her direction however and Maggie sighed softly, the exhaustion she had been feeling earlier suddenly returning in full force.

“Look Alex,” she spoke up after a few seconds had passed, “I’m not here to argue or fight with you.”

She wasn’t too surprised when Alex didn’t respond immediately, though she noticed some of the tension leaving her body. Her head turned ever so slightly to the side and though Alex’s expression was still very guarded, her eyes had softened considerably.

“What did you need help with?” Maggie tried again when she noticed Alex seemed to mentally struggle with something.

“Alright, fine,” Alex huffed out while struggling with one side of her tank top. “I’d never hear the end of it from Kara if I didn’t let you help me. I can’t reach the bandages on my back and I’m pretty sure the one on my shoulder needs changing,” she stated and Maggie followed her line of sight to the dark spot on the bed, a mixture of blood and bodily fluids.

“Right,” Maggie said while swallowing around a lump in her throat. Alex’s shirt was also stained near her shoulder and she distinctly remembered seeing the large swathe of bandages on that particular spot of her body. “I’ll go grab some stuff from the bathroom so I can clean the wound. Can you remove your shirt by yourself or do you need some help with that?”

“Think I can manage.”

“Okay.”

There weren’t that many supplies left in the bathroom and she assumed Kara had likely piled them all onto the counter and nightstand near the bed to save time.

When she returned Alex had rolled onto her stomach, two of the pillows beneath her upper body and chest to support her. Her back was bare and she’d rolled the pyjama bottoms slightly down, exposing another bandage near her lower back.There was a pained expression on her face that made some alarm bells go off however and it reminded Maggie of the slight winces she’d seen when Alex had moved around on the bed earlier.

“Did you take your pain meds yet?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Of course you are,” she huffed out, wondering why she was even bothering with this. “How many of your ribs did you break this time?”

She got no answer at first and Maggie sighed while grabbing some supplies from the nightstand.

“They make me feel loopy,” Alex complained while casting a quick glance across her shoulder. “And three, if you must know.”

“Not a record at least,” Maggie mused with a soft shake of her head. Silently she hoped J’onn would insist on a full recovery before Alex was allowed back into the field. The number of times she had broken or bruised her ribs in the past year, was alarming. “And I could keep badgering you about taking your pain meds or you could wait for Kara to return and do so instead of me.”

Alex’s face was too obscured for her to see it but Maggie knew she was rolling her eyes as she extended one of her hands behind her. She wordlessly dropped some pills in Alex’s hand before handing her the glass of water that had been sitting on the nightstand next to the bottle of pills. Something told her Kara had put them there in case Alex woke up and Maggie smiled as she watched Alex take the meds while grumbling under her breath.

Her gaze was drawn towards the bandage on Alex’s shoulder again and Maggie took a deep breath as she settled down on the edge of the bed, next to where Alex was lying.

“Gunshot wound?” She queried as she lifted the edge of the bandage, her stomach knotting up at the hiss of pain coming from Alex in response.

“Yeah, through and through,” Alex answered, without explaining how she got it.

She mentally debated on asking more questions, wondering about the details behind Alex getting shot again. But she also recognized the lingering tension between them and she was far too exhausted to have the situation escalate into a fight.

Alex was silent as she ripped off the remainder of the bandage and started to clean the wound. Other than some hisses of pain and fingers clutching at the sheets, Alex didn’t move or make a sound as Maggie worked on her back. She quietly replaced the first bandage before moving to the one on Alex’s lower back.

It was a far more uglier wound than the gunshot one and tears welled up in her eyes as she noticed how jagged it was. Like a stab wound, though not one she figured could’ve been made with a normal knife. It looked like it had been pretty deep though and Maggie could only imagine how painful the injury was to Alex. And it was likely the reason why Alex had trouble walking earlier.

“Alex?”

A soft rumbling sound was her response and Maggie took it as an affirmation.

“The people who did this?” She inquired softly, though there was a level of contained rage in the tone she used. Because the thought of whoever had hurt Alex like this still being at large was an unbearable one.

“Dead,” came the answer, “they weren’t ever going to allow themselves to be captured alive,” Alex added after a moment of silence.

Maggie released a breath she hadn’t realised she had been holding and finished rebandaging the stab wound. “At least they won’t be able to hurt anyone ever again,” she said as she moved away from the bed and threw away the dirty bandages into the trash bin.

“Yeah, they…” Alex looked at her, though it almost seemed as if she was seeing things that weren’t there. Her eyes were unfocused and glassy and the moment she noticed Maggie staring at her she looked away again. “Can you hand me a clean shirt?” She changed the subject, inclining her head to some folded clothes sitting on a chair in the corner of the room.

Maggie nodded and wordlessly handed off the shirt from the top of the pile to Alex.

“Thanks.”

“Sure,” Maggie said, her eyes flicking from Alex to the bloody stain on the bed sheet. “Think you’re up for moving to the couch?”

“Are you serious right now?”

“The bed sheet needs changing Alex and I have time on my hands, might as well make myself useful.”

“Kara can do that when she comes back,” Alex replied, her face contorting into a angry mask. “You don’t need to..”

“I’m going to change these sheets and I don’t particularly care where you settle down while I do so. I just figured the couch might be the more comfortable option.”

Alex was practically fuming while she hobbled to the living room but Maggie didn’t spare her more than a glance before she went to work on changing the bed. Her emotional defences were in shambles and it was part of the reason she had banished Alex to the couch. It would give her a moment of reprieve from the effect Alex was having on her. In a way Maggie supposed Alex being angry with her was easier to handle than the emotionally charged moments they had on the bed minutes before. She was still very much angry herself and it gave her something to channel her frustration towards, even if would result in a fight she’d much rather avoid altogether.

“There’s no reason for you to keep hanging around you know? I’ll be fine by myself for a few hours.”

Even without being able to see Alex she recognized the tone of voice she used and Maggie closed her eyes and expelled a lungful of air. It didn’t help how all of it was still so close to the surface. The anger and frustration along with the heartache she felt every time she saw Alex. It didn’t help she still couldn’t wrap her mind around how everything had changed so rapidly. How they had gone from being so happy and comfortable in their relationship to Alex distancing herself and breaking up with her barely a week later. Or maybe she just hadn’t noticed the signs until it was too late.

“Your body is practically being held together by stitches and knowing you, you’d probably tear out half of them doing something you shouldn’t, the moment I left.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Alex argued, apparently choosing to ignore the rest of what she had said. “And I’m sure you have better things to do.”

Balling her hands to fists at her sides, Maggie walked past the room dividers and fixed Alex with an angry glare. “You have a sister who has a heart the size of the sun, who basically spends her every waking moment trying to make sure someone is with you. I get that you don’t want me around right now, believe me I’d rather not be here either considering how you treated me, but I promised Kara I’d stay here until she returned. End of the story.”

She doesn’t really know what she had expected, but Alex pursing her lips, grabbing the remote and blatantly ignoring her altogether, hadn’t really made the list. It also frustrated her because all of her welled up anger had nowhere to go.

“So we’re back to this?” Maggie muttered while leaning against the dining table. “To you just not talking to me altogether?”

“What is there left to talk about Maggie?” Alex grit out between clenched teeth. She still wasn’t looking her way and it only served to aggravate her even more. “I thought I made myself perfectly clear.”

“You don’t think I recognize flimsy excuses to dump someone when I hear them, Danvers, truly? How long were you sitting on that? How long did you just blatantly lie to me?” She realized she was all but yelling the last sentence but she no longer cared. Her hands were shaking and she quickly folded her arms across her chest to hide it. “You let me believe we had something…”

“We did!” Alex interrupted with a heated voice, dark eyes boring into her own, “we did and it didn’t work out, why can’t you just accept it and leave it at that?”

“Because I know when you’re lying, Alex!” Maggie crossed the distance to the couch with a few angry strides, unable to keep the hurt out of her voice as she spoke. “Did it ever mean anything to you?!” She finally yelled, a bitter taste filling her mouth. “It didn’t, did it? I was in love with you, but you never were with me. It was all just...”

Her throat constricted as tears welled up in her eyes and she had to avert her gaze away from Alex before they spilled over.

“Maggie..”

A loud woosh interrupted whatever Alex was going to say next and Maggie took some steadying breaths as she met Kara’s confused blue eyes.

“What’s going on you guys? Even without my super-hearing I could’ve picked up on your shouting match from halfway across town.”

“Nothing,” Maggie murmured, while dipping her chin to her chest. “But since you’re here, I’m gonna go.”

“Maggie...wait.”

She ignored Alex’s plea, the guilt-ridden look in her eyes and rushed to grab her jacket from where she had tossed it across a chair, before quickly exiting the apartment.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I lied, it's going to be 6 parts. And the rating will very likely be booted up to M, because I decided to expand upon the latter part of the story.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very very sorry for the delay in update. At least the chapter is slightly bigger to make up for it. I had some medical issues to take care off and it's been a rocky two weeks. I can at least promise the next update will take less time than this one did. For this chapter I'll say I have no knowledge about how detectives/etc work, so I'm just going by some rough knowledge. Considering this a superhero series I think I can be forgiven for inconsistencies.

 

 

* * *

 

Maggie tugged at her standard police issue windbreaker as it fluttered around her body. The lashing winds kept playing with the thin fabric and she once again lamented the one-size-fit-all when it came to this type of police equipment. Some hairs had escaped her ponytail and clung to her wet cheeks and she grunted as she tried to tuck them back behind her ears. She much preferred an actual downpour to this steady drizzle that had been hitting the city for most of the day. The sky was a perpetual grey color and it made everything look blurry and bleak. 

And something about the weather circumstances in combination with the state of disrepair of the neighborhood she found herself in, left her thoroughly unsettled. Though Maggie supposed she could blame some of that on remnants of the splitting headache she had woken up to.

Thick yellow police tape was blowing around wildly as she walked up to the cordoned off crime scene and she nodded at a few of the beat cops keeping a handful of curious people at bay as she ducked under it.

The house in front of her was boarded up and run down, looking as if it had been abandoned well over a decade ago. There were cracks in the walls and most of the plaster had crumbled off, exposing nearly all of the structure to the elements. Most of the buildings in the street suffered from a similar fate and Maggie remembered it had something to do with some real estate company having bought out all the owners and setting up some kind of project. Only for said company to end up in an endless amount of lawsuits. 

She walked around the corner of the building and came across the remains of a small wooden fence surrounding what Maggie assumed used to be the house’s backyard. Most of it was overrun by an wild growth of plant life, except for a clearly well used path that lead to the backdoor of the house. Some wooden planks were lying on a haphazard heap close by the door and Maggie assumed the door used to be boarded up like the rest of the house.

A few people were canvassing the backyard and Maggie smiled when she recognised one of them. He noticed her arrival almost at the same time, flashing her an impish grin before standing up from his hunched over position and walking over to her.

“Sawyer.”

“Hewitt,” she greeted him, glad that he had been the one overseeing this particular case.

“Something tells me you broke the speed limit to get here this fast,” he quipped.

“Or I happened to be in the area.”

Hewitt hummed noncommittally before he turned around slightly to face the other end of the backyard. She followed his gaze to the trio of teenagers and one older person, Maggie assumed one of the parents, huddling together underneath some blankets while talking to two police officers. 

“Got anything useful out of them?” she questioned, nodding towards the group.

Hewitt shrugged and turned back to face Maggie. “Once we got them to calm down and stop lying about why they were here, there really wasn’t much we could learn from them. They were mostly worried about trespassing and facing punishment because they skipped out of school.” 

“At least they were smart enough to call it in though,” Maggie said while stealing another glance at the three teenagers. Her head started to throb again and she rubbed circles across her temples, waiting for Hewitt to continue.

He flipped through a notepad, staring at it pensively and scrabbling something at the bottom of the page before glancing up again. “The two boys are brothers and the eldest, Jeffrey, confessed they had broken into the building some months ago. Apparently they hang out over there once or twice a week and it certainly looks like they made themselves at home on the ground floor at least judging from the mess they made. He said the three of them noticed some muddy footprints near the door when they arrived near 1 p.m. Seems they were afraid someone had found their little hideout and they were reluctant to investigate at first. The girl, Mindy, was the one that found the body near the kitchen area.”

“Why the kitchen area,” Maggie wondered out loud, “seems like an odd place to stash a body.”

“Unless they were in a hurry, the kitchen is just out of sight of the back door, so anyone passing by wouldn’t see it unless they went looking for it. So far all signs point to multiple people moving into the building, dropping the body and rushing back out again, since we found plenty of footprints but no drag marks. Hayes is adamant the victim didn’t die in the building and we found muddy tyre tracks in the grass as well as along the curb.”

“And we’re close to the highway,” Maggie surmised as she glanced across her shoulder and towards the direction of the road. “Stands to reason the victim died somewhere close by and they decided to dump it in an abandoned building. Not much camera coverage in this area and considering the proximity to the highway, whatever vehicle was used is likely in another state by now or at the bottom of a river.”

“I’ve got some people working on the footprints and tyre tracks so maybe something pops, but..” Hewitt trailed off as he wiped some raindrops from his forehead. 

“Long shot, I know.” She scowled at the thought of how elusive these people were. A lucky break would’ve been nice considering how utterly stuck they were on this particular case. And now there was a third victim and it didn’t seem they were any closer to catching the people responsible. 

Sighing, Maggie patted Hewitt on the arm. “Thanks for the info Hewitt, I’ll go talk with Hayes, maybe she’s found something that can shed a light on all this.”

“Of course, I’ll talk to you later.”

Maggie nodded at him and walked across the muddy path to the back door of the abandoned building. Her boots made squishing noises every step of the way and she grumbled some expletives under her breath; they were going to be a bitch to clean when she got off duty. 

As soon as she crossed the threshold, her eyebrows rose across her forehead and she let out a low whistle. “Hewitt wasn’t kidding when he said they made themselves at home,” she muttered. 

An old bean bag, the fabric stained with substances she didn’t even want to guess the origin of, sat in a corner of the living room. Some greasy blankets and pillows were piled next to it, for all intents and purposes looking like some sort of nest to her and she wrinkled her nose at the cloyingly sweet smell that still clung to the room. They definitely did more than hang out in this place, she surmised when she noticed a few rolling papers mixed in with the rest of the garbage that littered the grime covered floor. 

There was another smell too, one she recognized all too well and it became stronger as she rounded a corner, and a doorway sans door, arriving in what used to be the house’s kitchen. Though it was mostly empty space now, asides for the cabinets, the kitchen counters covered in garbage and dust and a small kitchen island sitting in the middle of the room.

“Over here, Maggie,” she heard a voice call out to her and she twisted her head around to the doorway that lead to the stairs. 

“Liv,” she greeted the woman sitting on her haunches next to a dead body.

“That was quick,” Olivia said as she tucked a few strands of dark hair behind her ear, “Hewitt brought you up to speed?”

“He did, somewhat,” Maggie said while she sank down into a kneeling position. 

Almost immediately the feeling of nausea that had been bothering her all day turned into a sickening feeling of vertigo and she felt herself falling over backwards. 

Before completely losing her balance, she grasped for something to hold and her hand landed on Olivia's shoulder, who in turn took hold of her arm and carefully allowed Maggie to sit down on the floor.

“Hey, easy there. What’s wrong? Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she muttered, while breathing in deeply and trying to push down the bile rising up in her throat. 

  
A glance Olivia’s way told her she didn’t buy it though and Maggie sighed. “Just a bit worn out, didn’t get much sleep these past few weeks.” Not to mention the number of those nights that were spent emptying various bottles of booze, she thought to herself. “And this smell doesn’t help.” she added out loud, not wanting to trouble Olivia with the exact details.

“I see,” Olivia said, though she didn’t sound too convinced. But to Maggie’s relief dropped the subject after and returned her attention to the victim lying on his side, facing the wall.

“What you got on him?” Maggie queried, feeling a little more steady after the wave of nausea had passed. Though the sight of the young man in front of her, his distorted features clearly conveying he had died an agonizing death, still made her feel queasy.

“I’m sure you’ve already noticed the yellow blotches on his skin and the decorticate rigidity, which was the reason I called you in right away.”

“Yeah, same as the other victims,” Maggie summarized as she pulled on a pair of latex gloves, “can’t wrap my head around this guy getting dumped over here though. Makes me think he died closer to wherever they distributed the drugs.”

“Well he would’ve never made it home like the other two,” Olivia said while raising the arm of the victim up. “Notice the abrasions around his wrists?” 

Maggie nodded in response, frowning as she mulled over this piece of information. “He was restrained.”

“Found the marks on his ankles as well and the amount of damage done to the skin and soft tissue would indicate that he fought hard against his restraints. The lack of bruising and discoloration also leads me to conclude he died that way.” Olivia then slightly tilted the victim’s head to the side and pointed towards a small mark on his neck. “This is the other oddity I found. You probably recall how the other victims both injected themselves in their arms and were heavy drug users. But I found no thrace on this person that hints at him having used needle-distributed drugs, at least not recently.”

“That looks suspiciously like a needle mark though,” Maggie said while inspecting the mark on the victim’s neck. 

“It would seem so, but I’ll have more conclusive results once I’m back at my lab.”

The wheels whirred around in Maggie's head as she tried to piece together what had happened to this guy. It was almost as if he had been forcefully injected with the drug, perhaps with a higher than normal dosage as a form of torture. She wondered if the perpetrators had somehow messed up and when the victim died they panicked and dumped the body.

Sighing, Maggie observed the victim again, wondering if there was something she was missing. It didn’t sit right with her at all they still had no idea who was responsible for distributing illegal alien drugs.

“I wish I could be of more help, Maggie,” Olivia said while flashing her a faint smile. “I’ll keep you appraised if something turns up.”

Nodding, Maggie stared at the young man’s twisted features. “I could do with a solid lead,” she muttered, lips drawn into a tight line. “We have no idea if these people are even aware of how lethal this stuff might be to humans, nor how much of these drugs they even have in their possession. And I’d really like to find them before even more dead bodies turn up.”

Olivia patted her on the arm, “I really hope you do too.” 

Then she stood up and walked over to another room to talk to a technician there, though Maggie mostly tuned out their conversation. She switched positions and took another closer look at the young man’s clothes. Maggie surmised that because the body had been dumped in a hurry there might be something they missed, something that would give her the breakthrough she needed. 

Her eyes were drawn towards the large tear in the brown shirt the victim wore and she wondered if it got stuck on something. She lifted up the fabric with her glove covered fingers, but didn’t notice anything else out of the ordinary. A certain smell reached her nose when she turned the victim over ever so slightly however and Maggie frowned as she tried to pinpoint where the smell originated from. It reminded her a little of gasoline and as she spotted the barely noticeable dirty patch covering the upper part of the victim’s black pants, she dipped her head closer to confirm her suspicions. 

“Definitely gasoline,” she murmured, her brows knitting together as she tried to fit that piece of information into the puzzle. A renewed feeling of nausea accompanied the smell of gasoline and she slowly stood back up, taking a few deep breaths to push past it.

There was some noise coming from outside, but it didn’t really register to her until she spied a familiar flash of red and blue entering her vision.

“K..Supergirl?” she quickly corrected herself after she had gotten past the brief moment of surprise, “what are you doing here?”

“Hey,” Kara greeted her, looking more like an awkward puppy than the girl of steel in that moment. She looked around a bit sheepishly, pulling a face when she noticed the dead body on the floor next to Maggie. “It’s been a bit of a slow day for me and I happened to be spy some of the police cars when I flew past.” Then she leaned in, voice lowering almost conspiratorially, “I was kind of looking for you. You didn't reply to those last few texts, so I got a little worried.”

Sighing, Maggie rubbed at her forehead, not wanting to explain to Kara how she had drank herself into a stupor the night before. And while she had spied the messages in the morning, she’d been late for work and had forgotten all about them in between nourishing a killer hangover.

“Sorry, it’s been a really busy day, I kind of forgot to reply back to you.”

Kara cocked her head, eyes narrowing and Maggie felt decidedly uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gaze Kara was leveling at her. “You look a little..tired, are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine,” Maggie brushed her off. “It’s just this case,” she sighed, while glancing down at the body lying on the floor. It wasn’t a complete lie at least.

“Yellow marks on his skin,” Kara observed as she walked closer, eyes flicking across the dead body. “Same as the others, right?” She lowered her voice again, while casting a glance or two across her shoulder.

Maggie followed her line of sight and noticed Olivia staring at the two of them from the other room, one eyebrow raised in silent question. She quickly waved her off with a dismissive hand gesture and turned back to Kara as soon as Olivia went back to talking to the technician.

“You should contact the DEO about this,” Kara suggested.

“And say what exactly? We only know the victims died from some kind of alien drug, likely Garulean in origin. But there’s a very real possibility no aliens are otherwise involved in this and it’s just some drug smugglers trying to make a quick buck by throwing this stuff on the market and not caring about any possible casualties.”

“They could help with tracking down the people responsible though.”

Maggie shook her head and walked away from Supergirl, jaw clenched in annoyance. “My department’s got it covered.”

“It’s not really about that though, is it?” Kara queried after a second or two and Maggie closed her eyes, chin dipping to her chest in defeat.

“If you’re insinuating I’m avoiding getting the DEO involved in this case because of Alex, then you aren’t entirely off the mark,” Maggie admitted. “Look, Kara,” she murmured on a softer tone, “we’re still trying to get to the bottom of this and I think I might have a few leads. The moment I’m in over my head I’ll promise to call the DEO for help, alright? I solved plenty of cases in the past that involved aliens, without ever needing the DEO’s assistance.”

“I know I…” Kara hesitated, a crinkle appearing between her eyebrows as she seemed to be  internally struggling with something. “There’s something I have to tell you,” she said after a moment, “just preferably somewhere with a little bit more privacy.” 

Swallowing, Maggie studied Kara’s features for a moment, trying to discern what it was that she wanted to talk about. She knew it likely had to do with Alex and the thought was enough for Maggie to want to dismiss Kara’s request and claim she was too busy with the case.

“Fine,” she gave in after a moment. It wasn’t as if she would be able to avoid Kara forever in the first place. “Just walk with me, we can talk behind this building.”

She lead Kara away from the house quietly, ignoring the curious looks coming from Hewitt and some of the cops canvassing the backyard. They didn’t spare them more than a few glances though, most of them knew she worked together with Supergirl on occasion.

“So what was it that you wanted to say?” Maggie queried when they rounded a corner and arrived at a small overgrown pathway leading behind two of the ramshackled buildings.

Kara’s head dipped and Maggie frowned when she wouldn’t meet her eyes. Instead she seemed to be focused on something far away, something she mused only someone with super senses would be able to see or hear.

“Just that I noticed you’ve been withdrawing more and more ever since I asked you to come over to help with Alex a few weeks ago.”

“Kara…”

Kara held up a hand and Maggie pursed her lips back together, arms folded across her chest as she waited for Kara to continue.

“I just thought...that I was doing the right thing by keeping you appraised of Alex recovery, but maybe I wasn’t?” 

It wasn’t really a question, more of a statement but it still left Maggie slightly uncomfortable at the direction of the conversation.

Sighing, Kara finally turned around to face her and Maggie took note of the clear guilt shining in Kara’s sky blue eyes. “I thought that...no, I  _ know  _ that Alex still cares a lot about you and it’s obvious you…”

“Kara stop,” Maggie interrupted her, not wanting to hear the rest of it.

“No, I need to say this Maggie, please.” Kara was plucking at the fabric of her sleeve, clearly distraught about something. “I need to apologize for asking you to come over to my place and watch over Alex that second time,” she finally said, voice wavering. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“What are you talking about?” 

“I lied, about the deadline,” Kara admitted, throat bobbing as she swallowed thickly. “I’m sorry, I just thought that if I could get you and Alex to..”

“Talk?” Maggie filled in, voice trembling with the anger surging through her body. “And what? We’d fix things between us magically? That’s not how it works Kara. God…” she growled, sighing as she rubbed at her temples with the pads of her fingers. “I should’ve known you’d try to meddle, you wouldn’t be you if you wouldn’t.”

“I’m sorry, I really am,” Kara murmured, head tilted downwards and a curtain of blonde hair obscuring most of her features. “I should’ve told you right away, but I was just so...caught off guard when I heard the two of you arguing and then Alex broke down after you left and I just… I’m sorry,” she repeated, her eyes finally meeting Maggie’s own.

“I know, Kara, I know,” Maggie said softly, feeling some of her anger drain away when she saw Kara’s eyes shine with emotion. “You were just trying to help.”

Kara still seemed to be overflowing with guilt and Maggie sighed again before stepping into her personal space, quickly enveloping Kara into a tight hug. “Just promise me you won’t do that again,” Maggie whispered after Kara wrapped her arms around her. The pressure was just shy of making her unable to breathe but she didn’t care, knowing that the guilt had likely been eating away at Kara for the better part of the last two weeks.

“I won’t,” Kara said after she stepped back, lips tugging upwards into a faint smile. “I can promise that much. And I’m sorry again Maggie.”

Nodding, Maggie returned Kara’s smile and placed a hand on her arm for a moment. “It’s fine and I do appreciate you looking out for me.”

“Of course.” Then she looked away, almost as if listening to something. “I gotta go, there’s someone in trouble. But keep in touch okay? Call me if you need my help with anything.”

“I will.”

And with that, Supergirl was gone and Maggie remained alone, shaking her head softly and trying her hardest not to think about the things Kara had told her.

 

* * *

 

“Come on,” Maggie growled, then cursed when the call went straight to voicemail again. “Seriously, Kara,” she muttered while glaring at the phone in her hands before pocketing it. 

Just the day before Kara had told her to call if she needed her help after all. Not that she needed it technically. She hadn’t found anything except fresh tyre tracks and a new lock on the chain link fence gates. But it was enough to make her suspicious and want to investigate further. 

The other two locations she had investigated hadn’t yielded anything, but the abandoned and slowly deteriorating refinery in front of her seemed promising. The complex itself was large and surrounded by chain link fences. Rusty signs were hanging on it, proclaiming the area dangerous and warning about the fine trespassing carried. It was also far enough away from the main road to keep any suspicious activities concealed from prying eyes.

Walking closer to the fence, Maggie peered into the darkness, trying to make out anything that seemed worth investigating. She spied a sliver of light coming out from underneath something in the far distance, but couldn’t make out what it was. There were too many structures, piles of trash and rusty machinery in the way.

She dialed Kara’s number again but wasn’t surprised to hear it once again go to voicemail. She left a quick message about maybe having found a lead on the case she was investigating and mentioned the location she was at. Clicking off the phone she put it to silent and pocketed it again. 

Briefly she considered waiting for Kara, but the fact there was some light burning in the abandoned refinery made her antsy. She didn’t want to risk these guys once again giving her the slip, especially when she was so close to uncovering who they were.

She slowly made her way around the chain link fence until she came across a rusty dumpster littered with holes. It was leaning slightly to one side and the wheels that were actually still attached to the dumpster no longer seemed to work. But it would work for the idea she had in mind and Maggie slowly pushed the creaky metal construct to the fence, cringing all the while at the noise it made as it scraped across the concrete.

As soon as it was close enough she climbed on top of the dumpster and leveraged herself across the fence. Dropping down at the other side, she held her breath and listened, exhaling again when she didn’t pick up anything other than the wind blowing through the nearby trees.

The glimmer of light she had seen before was a little bit clearer now. It came from a broken and boarded up window in the largest structure on the terrain. The building was massive, with abandoned refinery equipment at one side and half collapsed stairs on the other. A pile of rusting machinery sat next to a set of huge double doors and the concrete in front of them was covered with muddy tyre tracks and grime. She thought she heard muffled voices coming from within the building, but it was difficult to make out and something told her going in through the front entrance to investigate wouldn’t be a good idea.

Making her way around the structure, she found more boarded up windows and she started to test them for weaknesses. She got lucky on her third try and after slowly prying away the first board she stole a peek inside the room behind it. A set of empty and dust covered shelves greeted her and she grinned, removing the two other boards blocking her way with a little bit more difficulty than the first. It seemed like she had stepped into some kind of maintenance room and through the half open door she was able to make out a small hallway. 

Fetching the gun from the back of the waistband of her jeans, she slowly made her way through the hallway. The were a few sets of doors leading to what seemed to be offices, some of them still containing furniture in various states of decay. The room at the end of the hallway was a lot bigger, filled with shelves that rose up to the ceiling, empty metal and wooden crates and all sorts of industrial debris.

Her attention was immediately drawn to a hole in the wall at the far side, giving her a clear view of a truck and a dark suv that sat right next to it. The truck’s lights were on, illuminating the large hall in front of it and the handful of figures talking agitatedly amongst themselves. 

Maggie noticed at least five of them were human, with nearly all of them holding rifles in their hands. She wasn’t able to get a clear look at the other two figures, they were covered in dark armor and towered high above the humans they were talking to. 

Sneaking closer, Maggie flattened herself to the wall next to the hole, trying to pick up on what was being said. She overheard bits and pieces of the conversation until one of the men, she assumed the leader of the bunch, started to yell at the armored aliens. 

“What the hell do you want us to do?! Ask every client about their medical history?!” 

Maggie frowned as she heard one of the men yell, a hand outstretched towards the alien standing in front of him. He seemed agitated and the whole situation was making her uncomfortable. The tension was palpable in the air and two of the men with rifles seemed too twitchy for her liking. She could do without ending up in the middle of a shootout between a drug smuggling ring and what she assumed to be their alien suppliers.

“Youuu…” the alien hissed and Maggie held her breath, wracking her brain about what species of aliens she was dealing with. The answer came a moment too late, because the next second both aliens turned in her direction, heads tilted and yellow reptilian eyes slanted as they stared right at her.

“We have compppany.”

Her heart leaped into her throat as Maggie realized she was dealing with the Loq’Nahr. Bullets and some kind of energy beam were fired her way, though she wasn’t sticking around to figure out what kind of weapons the Loq’Nahr were packing. The beam sizzled as it hit a metal shelf and her eyes went wide as she saw the metal dissolve ever so slightly, making the shelf partially collapse.

The resulting racket as the shelf hit the ground along with the kicked up dust cloud provided her enough coverage to sprint through the room and towards a small alcove. She was able to pick up on the door opening and closing and a glance across the corner revealed two of the men slowly moving throughout the room, rifles held out in front of them as they searched the place.

She also heard the truck coming to live and deduced some of the men were likely preparing for a quick getaway. Her hope was pinned on the fact that they might not be entirely sure if she was alone or not, along with the aliens hopefully having vacated the premises, since no more beam weapons were being fired her way. Maggie prayed they didn’t want to get involved in this and had left the human gang to fend for themselves.

There wouldn’t be any way for her to get out of the room without being seen and firing her gun would result in drawing the attention from anyone that was still left in the building’s vicinity. The only way for her to escape the place would be to take out at least one of these goons. Hopefully without alerting the other one. She slipped her gun into the back of her waistband again and fished a small piece of metal from the floor. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it would do for what she had in mind.

Flattening herself against the back wall again, she crouched down and waited for the guy closest to her to pass her by. The moment she saw his rifle appear, she slammed the metal bar into his leg and immediately disarmed him as he fell forward. Using his body’s momentum she smashed her knee up into his face and struck him in the back of his head with the butt of the rifle. He was out cold right away and she breathed heavily as she dragged him out of sight and behind a pile of debris. 

She heard the shuffling of feet and wasn’t surprised to see the other man rush towards her general direction. There was no real cover anywhere in sight and Maggie quickly realized she would be a sitting duck in her current position. She debated using the rifle but decided against it almost right away, there was no telling how many people were still in the building. Instead she threw it away from her, in the opposite direction of where she was standing. 

A barrage of gunfire was fired in the direction of the sound and Maggie skidded across the ground, aiming for the guy’s leg while he faced away from her. He turned around just as she rose up the metal bar, grunting when he blocked the downward strike with his rifle. She struck his arm with her other hand, effectively disarming him, though she was surprised by a kick leveled at her chest. 

The metal bar went flying as she stumbled backwards, all the wind knocked out of her for a moment. It only took her a second to recover and she smirked when he started to circle her, hands balled to fists as he took up a fighting position. Moments like this she was glad Alex had insisted on giving her proper hand to hand combat training. 

“If you surrender now and tell us who send you, we’ll make your death a quick one,” the sandy-haired goon muttered, a smug grin plastered on his face.

“Does that line ever work?” she quipped with a shake of her head. 

Shrugging he made a quick motion forward with one of his feet and feinted, before circling her again. “Suit yourself.”

They traded a few blows and Maggie barely suppressed a chuckle when she realized the guy standing opposite of her was severely underestimating her. In fact it had been something she had counted on. She deliberately telegraphed a few of her blows and exposed one of her sides, trying to lure him into a false sense of superiority. It didn’t take long for him to take the bait and the moment he launched into a proper attack she quickly feinted and kicked one of his legs out from underneath him. Her other foot connected sharply with his chin as he lurched forward and almost immediately he was down for the count.

Noises from the other room alerted her to the fact she might have more company and she glanced once more at the guy lying on the floor in front of her before breaking into a run. Sprinting through the room towards the direction of the open window she hated the fact that she still didn’t have a clue what kind of gang or organisation she was dealing with. But at least there was a confirmation aliens were involved now and perhaps it was time she got in touch with the DEO.

She stole a few furtive glances across her shoulder but there was no one following her and she hastily climbed through the window. A rumbling sound reached her ears the moment she touched the ground and then something exploded behind her.

The shock wave slammed her into the ground and Maggie gasped for breath as she scrambled for purchase and tried to wrench her body upright. Her vision was woozy and she could feel the telltale trickle of blood slipping across one of her cut cheeks. She tried to clear her head, but everything was sluggish and she felt faint, her vision swimming in front of her. 

  
The last thing she saw was a massive being towering over her before the ground rose up to meet her.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realize there's been no Alex in this chapter. I wanted to focus a little on Maggie and I promise this chapter's setup is there for a reason. Not sorry for the cliffhanger however ;) Both the Garulean alien drug and the Loq'Nahr have been made up by me. The Loq'Nahr basically being massive space reptilian baddies.


End file.
